Barn-door latch.



A. NEUENSCHWANDER.

BARN DOOR LATCH,

APPLICATION FILED MAE. e, 1900.

- Patented July 19,1910.

WA Q INVENTOR.

BYMWMIV '2 T4 from; Y.

I IVITNESSES:

ADAM NEUENSCHWANDER, F BERNE. INDIANA. l i

BARN-DOOR LATCH.

norms.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 19, 1910.

Application filed March 6, 1909. Serial No. 481,770.

I" all whom it mo; concern:

lle it known that l. Anni NI-II'EXSCHWAN- min. a (:itizen ot the Unit d States. residing at Borne. in the county of Adams. in the .h'tate of Indiana. have invented certain new and useful lIUIHZUYtHH'HIS in Barn-Door Latvia- 1 and l do hereby (let-lure that the following is a full. clear. and eXaet (lest-ription of the invention. which will euahle others skilled in the art to \vhirh it appertainsto lttlllit and the the same. reference being had to the acroiupanving drawings. which form part of this pecitication.

My invention relates to improvements in barn door latches. specially designed for use on donhle sliding doors.

it is well known that liding harn doors frequently sag very materially and thereby spread apart and rcndcr the latch therefor nselms in throwing it out of alinenieut with its Pfiltli and too far away from th mine and also that sometimes there is an uue\eu settling or sagging ot' the part of the straw ture on which oneof the doors is suspeuth-th thereby spreading the doors too far apart to enahle the. latch to engage the catch.

The. object, therefore, of my present invention 15 to provide an improved harn door latrh which can he tllttlltil from either the. "11-.

te or the outside of the door with equal facility, and \\'ltlt'll is so constructed as to properly engage it coacting cateh even when there has l eeu a cousiderahle settling of one of the doors or of the part (rarryingthe catch.

My present invention consists of a novel form of latch pivoted at one end and pro vided with means at its other end for en- -gaging the cateh at slightly ditt'erent relative vertieal positions, and having near the middle of its length means for operating the same from either side of the door.

The novel feature of my invention resides in the eonstruetion and cooperation of the lateh with its engaging means.

Similar refercnize numerals indirate like parts in the several views of the drawings in whi h- Figure- I is a perspective view of my improved latch in position in its guiding and securing m ans. Fig. 2 is a 1 erspective View of the preferred form ot'w ch employed with tl.c latch. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary ones-section ot' a pair of sliding harn doors n which my invention is employed showing the relatiuarrangement of the courting 1 parts. Fig. l is a view n elevation of my invention in position 11; on the fragments of two nn-eting sliding barn doors, showing in dotted lines how my intention acts when the doors are considerably spread apart.

.Ul pa rts of my invention are made of suitahle metal.

f The sliding doors 1 and 2 are of the usual construction and operation and are suspended in the usual orother proper manner. To the outer face of the door 1 is fixed a-cominon form of metal strap 3 in which the rear end of the latch l is pivotally secured by means of 23;;- hol't or screw The latch 1. has, prefe'. ably. near the middle of its length, a ttanswrse pin 6 fixed therein and whose ends ar iufiteiently extended to form proper latch handles.

.is shown in Fig. 3, the inner end of the i u z: is loosely arranged in the vertical :alot 7 in the door I, and has its inner end extended hoyoud the slot. to form a commient means for raising the latrh from he inside of the door. he other and forward end of the latch 4 s upwardly curved and provided upon its lower face with an inclined rack or notched portion 8, and has its outer adjacent extremity 9 upwardly curved to autoniaticallv guide the latch to its engagement in closing the door.

The tan-h 4 passes loosely through a second natal strap 10 whieh is fixed on the door and supports the latch in substantially horizontal position when the door in open. This strap 10 has sufiieient length therein under all conditions of service.

My invention ean be employed with any suitable forth of latch, though I preferably employ the form shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, consisting of a late 11 having a longitudinal slot 12 therein, and rovided with a longitudinal off-set 13 an a portion 14 in a. plane; parallel to that of the plate '11, and provided with a tmgitudinal stools). This plate is rigidly seeuretl in osition by proper screws 16, as shown in igs. 3 and, in which the body of the plate rests in a suitahle recess in the edge of the door 2and the portion 14 projeets outwardly at, right angles to the door whereby it is in position to engage the notched portion 8 of the latch when in position in the slot 15 as shown in Fig. 4.

The operation and manner of employing to give the latch v uitable vertical playmy invention thus described is obvious. and briefly stated is as follows: When the latch 4 is engaged with the catch and it is desired to open either door 1 or 2 from either the outside or the inside, the operator simply raises the latch by means of the pin (i until it escapes its engagement, after which either door may be opened in the usual manner. The doors can readily be closed without touching the latch, by sliding them together, since the curved portion 9 of the ateh will guide it to' its engagement with the plate 11 in the slot 14 in a well understood manner, by its own gravity, and the inclined arrangement of the notches enables the latch to continue without inter ruption its sliding movement to its engagement with the proper notch 8. Should it be desired to have the latch 4 engage the plate ll in theslot 12 instead of in'the slot 153 the plate is simply reversed end for end.

It is obvious that when, for any cause, the door 2 :hould sag or settle it would assume approximately the position shown in the dotted outline in Fig. 4 thereby leaving a space between the doors adjacent to the latch, whereby the latch will engage the plate 11 in the last instead of the first of the notches 8, while if the latch has but one point of engagement as usual, it would not 2 latch at all. It'is also obvious that my invention can be employed upon a single sliding door as well as'on double doors.

Having thus described my invention and the mam-er of employing the some what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a barn door latch, a gravity latch-bar pi\'otally mounted at its inner end, and having its outer end upwardly curved to proflvitle upon its lower face a forwardly inclined rack to engage a coacting catch, and having its ad jaeent extremity provided with an oppositely inclined and forwardly projecting-lu adapted to automatically guide the latch- Jill to its engagement; means for securing the latch-bar in its normal position; means for disengaging the latch-bar; and a fixed enacting catch to engage the latch-bar. 4 1

Signed by me at Berne, Adams county, State of lndiana, this 13th day of February, 1909.

\Vitnesses:

J. D. \Vm'rnmcuo, E1111. LIECHTZ. 

